Kyodo News

TOKYO (Kyodo) — A former vice welfare minister and his wife were found murdered in Saitama on the morning of Nov. 18, while the wife of another former vice welfare minister was stabbed at their home in Tokyo in the evening, police said, pointing to possible serial attacks against former ministry bureaucrats.

GIFU (Kyodo) — The family of a dead Japanese Brazilian factory worker lodged a 79 million yen damages suit Nov. 18 against the factory’s operator and staff agency, both in Gifu Prefecture, claiming that they forced him to work long hours, resulting in his death.

It is the first lawsuit over the overwork-related death of a foreigner lacking permanent resident status, according to a lawyer representing the family.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Suzuki Motor Corp. said Nov. 17 it has agreed to buy back General Motors Corp.’s 3.02 percent stake in the Japanese automaker for 22.37 billion yen ($230 million) as the struggling U.S. auto giant is seeking to raise cash.

With the sale, GM, which used to own shares in Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. in addition to Suzuki, will bring to an end all of its investments in Japanese automakers.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The late artist Taro Okamoto’s giant mural depicting the moment of an atomic-bomb explosion was unveiled Nov. 17 for public viewing as it was permanently installed on the wall of a walk-through of the Keio Inokashira Line’s Shibuya Station in Tokyo.

The “Myth of Tomorrow,’’ a 5.5-by-30-meter mural, was placed in the walk-through inside the Shibuya Mark City emporium, an area where some 300,000 people walk by every day.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japan’s six largest banking groups suffered a total loss of 1.03 trillion yen for the six months through September due to the global financial turmoil with their combined net profit more than halved to 406 billion yen from a year earlier, their earnings results and estimates showed Nov. 14.

While incurring significant losses on stock investments, they have also been under pressure from the growing cost of bad-loan disposal, which totaled 729.7 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2008, up 87 percent.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — The Japanese government is making arrangements to sign an international accord to ban cluster bombs, Chief Cabinet Secretary Takeo Kawamura said Nov. 14.

“I have heard that (the government) is making arrangements’’ toward signing the accord, Kawamura told a news conference. The signing ceremony for the accord will be held in Oslo in early December.

WAKAYAMA (Kyodo) — Twin cubs born to giant panda Rauhin at the Adventure World amusement park in Wakayama Prefecture were named Meihin and Eihin on Nov. 13.

Meihin, the female cub, was born in the early morning of Sept. 13 and Eihin, the male cub, about 70 minutes later. They weighed about 194 grams and about 116 grams at the time of their births.

The twins now weigh over 2 kilograms each and are opening their eyes, park officials said.

NAGASAKI (Kyodo) — The Nagasaki city government has decided to grant an atomic-bomb sufferer’s health passbook to a Dutchman who experienced the U.S. atomic bombing of the city in August 1945 while in a camp being held as a prisoner of war, municipal officials and the man said Nov. 12.

The city government made the rare decision to give the certificate to a former POW after confirming his exposure to the bombing through the examination of documents.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Japanese convenience store and restaurant chains have accelerated their overseas expansion, especially in Asia, as domestic business conditions have deteriorated due to excessive competition in a market shrinking amid the falling birthrate and aging population, an industry body said Nov. 12.

The number of Japanese franchise chains’ overseas outlets at the end of June this year increased by 2,947 from four years earlier, or by 986 from a year before, to 12,116 including 8,492 convenience stores and 3,404 restaurants, the Japan Franchise Association said.

TOKYO (Kyodo) — Hiroshi Hirao singled in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and four relievers did not allow a runner over the final seven innings Nov. 9 as the Seibu Lions rallied to beat the Yomiuri Giants 3-2 in Game 7 and won their first Japan Series crown in four years.

Seibu won its 13th Japan Series title, including three by its forerunner, the Nishitetsu Lions. Yomiuri was looking for its 21st Japan Series crown and first since it swept Seibu in four games in 2002, Tatsunori Hara’s first year as manager
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